Sign of the times

March 30, 2013

CALCUTTA - Whether you call it a meteorological event, a message, or a miracle is a matter of perspective, but however you look at it you have to agree its quite unusual, especially considering this holy symbol appeared in the sky above Calcutta on Good Friday.

Almost every morning, minister Bill Kidd of East Liverpool takes his two dogs, Lola and Ozzie, on a walk through Columbiana County Memorial Park. On this Good Friday morning at around 7 a.m., Kidd and his dogs made their way up to the top of the hill in the cemetery next to the large topiary crucifix sculpted into the hillside. There atop the hill the three sat, Ozzie and Lola splitting a sandwich while Kidd had his morning coffee and did his morning devotions. On this morning as he sat facing East something in the sky caught his eye.

"I just happened to look up and I thought 'what!?!' It gave me goose bumps," he said.

Article Photos

These images were captured Friday morning by East Liverpool City Hospital assistant chaplain Bill Kidd of East Liverpool while on a walk with his pet dogs at Columbiana County Memorial Park. (Submitted Photos)

Through the gray curtain of overcast morning cloud shown a clearly distinguishable pattern of a cross in the Eastern sky. Luckily, Kidd carries a camera in the glovebox of his car which was parked nearby.

"Here I am just trying to get it out and hoping that the batteries aren't dead," said Kidd, who proceeded to shoot several pictures of the luminous phenomena.

When he finished snapping a few pictures Kidd knew he had captured something special. "I thought, 'oh my, this has got to be shared.'"

When asked if he saw significance in the event, Kidd, who is an assistant chaplain at East Liverpool City Hospital and performs services at Nentwick Care Center, replied that whatever produced the cross in the morning sky he is grateful for it.

"It provided a boost for me that things like that happen- that we can see the goodness and the love of God," said Kidd. "You can't really sit back and say God did it on purpose or he didn't do it, he just allows things to happen to give us peace and joy."